Eminem, The King Of Hip Hop? Artists React

Rolling Stone magazine crowned Eminem the King of Hip Hop last month, and it has gotten some people talking. Okay, i am one of them, so i would go first. By the way, i am an artist too, so i fit in. My opinion is that i think Eminem is great with the word-play, and his delivery is crazy, but if you want to look at what hip hop stands for, i don't think you can actually crown him the King. I think Nas is the Best Rapper Alive, but based on achievements, and fame and all that, i would give Jay-Z the crown instead.



Below is what Rolling Stone based their judgment on-

The magazine ranked 20 solo rappers, including Drake, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg and more. The publication looked at album sales, social media presence, YouTube page views, concert grosses, industry awards, critics' ratings and more. Em, who was the world's best-selling musical artist of the first decade of the 2000s with more than 32 million albums sold, had 7.5 million in album sales during the period Rolling Stone examined, more than 1.3 billion YouTube views and 48 million Twitter and Facebook followers. That was enough to land him ahead of Lil Wayne (No. 2) and Drake (No. 3), though Rolling Stone cited Drake as the artist to watch in the year ahead. (Detroit Free Press)

From this, it is clear that they didn't even look at lyrics, and flow, and the art of story telling, and longevity. Anyway, this is just me talking, but i know i speak for a lot of people. I have been a rap enthusiast since the early 90s, so i have the right to speak.

Below is what Benzino (Co-Founder of The Source Magazine) had to say-

"It's a big thing to say he's the King of Hip Hop and I basically predicted this. Don't [people] realize by saying he's King that it leaves a long lasting impression on these kids and that it's f*ckin' up Hip Hop? If everything is about lyrics, well dude's nice. But guess what? I'm nice too and there's a whole lotta other nice n*ggas out there too. How is [Rolling Stone] judgin' everybody? Is it by lyrics? By songs? Because I don't think anyone out there rides around bangin' Eminem in the hood. How is he gonna go in on every pop artist back in the day and now he's the most pop artist out?" (SOHH Guest Star)

I think i feel what Benzino is saying, but it is really a tough argument, because Eminem is nice, and he bamboozles people with his word-play, and delivery; people feel more of how he rides the beat, and delivers breathless verses, than his actual lyrics. Not saying he is not lyrical, but they are def more lyrical rappers out there. I can remember a couple of years back, when Relapse dropped, my friend and i decided to sit down and actually listen to eminem, and weigh his lyrics. Of cos he says some morbid crazy shit, but the bulk of the other things he say's are just every day things, but the way he says what he says...his WORDPLAY is his main strength. Yeah, and his album sales are crazy...Platinum...Diamond selling artist. And he is very very famous and infamous at the same time...he has that spotlight shinning on him.

Royce Da 5'9 is another rapper that can flip it like Eminem, and after a couple of weeks of listening to their Bad Meets Evil EP, i found out that i was always waiting for Royce to come on, because he actually spat more "quality" lyrics than em. Please, don't forget, this are my opinions, and you do not have to take them seriously. And one more thing, i am an Eminem fan. 

Check out what Skyler Grey had to say about Rolling Stone crowning Eminem the King of Hip Hop-

"Eminem is my favorite rapper, but I don't know why you have to crown a 'King of Hip-Hop,'" she explained in an interview. "There are a lot of good rappers out there. But he's my favorite." (VIBE)

By the way, Skyler Grey was featured on Dr Dre and Eminem's "I Need A Doctor" track, and on Lupe Fiasco's "Words I Never Said" track